Alien: Silent Screams
by CelfwrDderwydd
Summary: What do you do when you're struck mute, and you need to scream? One-Shot


Disclaimer: The Author does not own Alien.

 **Alien: Silent Screams**

by

CelfwrDderwydd

Peace. Such a sense of peace. Surrounded by peaceful warmth, she was calm. Around her, soothing sounds calmed her. The steady sound of breathing, the rhythm of a heartbeat. It was the kind of soft, all-encompassing bliss many seek, and rarely find.

Sometimes, she felt a presence. _Their_ presence. Her host, her Bonded One. While it was distant and diffuse, she felt it, nevertheless, and it made her happy. She gladly reached out, brushing her consciousness against theirs. She found it odd that she had a slightly hard time doing so, as if she was trying to push through a layer of some kind of gel, or a fog. The replies were almost like echoes down a hall. She could feel a strange sense from them, as if they did not believe this was real. As if it was a dream. As she gently caressed them, assuring that it was real, the contact faded to the very back of her mind. She was saddened, but knew it would come again, when her Bonded One slept. Curled in her blissful state of semi-consciousness, she rested as she grew.

She was almost totally asleep when she was violently jerked awake. By what, she did not know. She was confused. There was a strange sense of agitation. She stretched and writhed a bit. She felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. That, though, paled compared to a strange, growing sense of unease in her host. The organs around her began to vibrate it seemed. She felt a sense from the mind of her Bonded One of distress. Panic began to flood her, as well as instinct. Something was wrong. She twitched and moved. A sudden stab of pain lashed across their Bond. Her wriggles turned into frantic thrashing. What was going on? The lashes of pain came again, harder. Her Bonded One was in danger! She had to free herself to protect them. She snarled and twisted, breaking out of her comfortable cocoon inside this warm inner world. More pain from her Bonded sent her into a frenzy as the organs around her contracted. Someone was hurting her host! She had to defend them!

Something hard blocked her way. She snarled and bit at the block as more pain lanced through them both. Who was doing this? Who or what was attacking her Bonded One? She frantically reached out to her Mother and Sisters for help, calling out mentally for aid and protection for her Bonded One. Her thrashes grew more frantic when her mental cries were met with silence. She coiled like a spring and launched herself at the barrier with all her might, at last breaking through. She screamed in rage to scare away whatever was harming her Bonded One.

 _Leave them alone!_ The first sound that greeted her was a high-pitched shriek. A voice. As her new senses focused, she found herself surrounded by strange creatures. She could smell and sense fear from them, bordering on terror. They cowered away. She whirled to find her Bonded One, and that was when she finally gained enough of her senses to notice the smell. Blood. It was everywhere. She was covered in it, as were the creatures. The blood of her host. To her horror, she felt her Bonded One, her dear host and life-partner, covered in blood, their mind fading away into the unknown. Fear and anguish replaced her aggression. _No! No, no, no! No, don't leave me! Please!_ To her great anguish, she felt the first and only true touch of his waking mind.

 _You . . . you're . . ._ There was a sense of awe and wonder she felt from his mind as it quickly faded, and, as his heart stilled, vanished. She was shaking with untold sorrow.

A sound made her whirl, as one of the creatures, the largest one, seemed to move to attack. Only now did she focus on the beings around her. They had soft skin and two eyes, standing upright. One was heavy with the scent of her beloved Bonded One's blood. A female, she sensed. Her. It must have been her who did it! She bared her teeth in pure, unrestrained rage as she quivered. She screamed her anger and sorrow at them.

 _I'll kill you all!_ With a snarl, she leaped up from the corpse of her Bonded One and fled into the dark, hearing the fearful cries of the animals behind her.

XXX

Deep in the shadows, she cried out mentally. She called out for her Mother, for her Sisters. She was terrified when only empty silence greeted her. Hidden in recessed shadows too small for those large, clumsy beasts, she mentally wailed, rocking back and forth in a vain attempt to comfort herself. They had killed her host, her Bonded One. Murdered them. She chirped sadly, quietly, loud as she dared, for she did not want to lead them to her. She vaguely heard their calls and grunts to each other as they searched for her. She cowered as she saw a stream of light flash across her hiding place. She coiled up tightly, her instinct telling her to remain as still as she could. They left soon enough. Her anger returned. If she wanted to have her revenge, she would need to grow. Match their size, their strength. Yes. She would do that, and more. Yes, she would surpass them! They had eyes, and the fact they used lights meant they could not see in the dark. Yes, a weakness! She quietly snarled as she formulated her plan.

Her instincts told her to find food. She cast out her senses, carefully moving around narrow paths and holes those huge, clumsy lumbering beasts could not fit into. Here and there, she found tiny strings of the Sweet Metal her kind loved to eat. She eagerly chomped on the material. There seemed to be a good amount of it, but she knew she would need more. Her hunger led her deeper into this strange labyrinth that she vaguely felt was not natural with all its angles and metals. She found a room filled with boxy containers she smelled were filled with food. She tore into one. The dry material inside may not have been meat, but it was welcome, nevertheless.

She was startled when something came into the room. Something other than the beasts. She looked up at the strange creature that was hardly as big as her. It was covered in fur, and moved much more gracefully than the big animals. She felt some wariness from it, smelled it was cautious. She gave a chirp as loud as she dared. It moved back a bit, then, to her surprise, it began to purr! Oh, how good it felt to hear a friendly tone. She eagerly returned the reply, even if it could not understand her as one of her own kind would. Satisfied that the Furry One meant no harm, she went back to feeding. She tore into a soft container of a more pungent food, and she noticed the Furry One seemed interested. She let it come in, and was happy to see it eat the odd little pellets. Ah, so this was what the Furry One ate! She left that alone and fed on the other foods. Suddenly, she felt and heard one of the beasts coming. She scurried for the hole she had come from as the Furry One also ran. She heard more of the grunts of those animals behind her, but ran as fast as she could for another hiding place.

Her instincts told her that she would need to find a bigger hiding place soon. Her skin felt itchy, and she knew she would grow soon. But, she couldn't do so where they could find her. She would be at her most vulnerable. She sought the deepest, darkest place she could. She soon found a place that was not only wider, but dark and damp, too. She felt great relief as her skin began to split open. She climbed into a strange structure and weaved and ground through it to shed her old skin. She growled as she pushed and rubbed against any surface she could, until, at last, her old skin sloughed off. Tiny new arms unfolded, and tiny legs stretched. Still too weak to support her, she wriggled along to find a place to hide while she grew and her exoskeleton hardened.

XXX

There in the dark, she brooded, her thoughts a jumbled mess. Where was everyone? Where was the Mother? Where were her Sisters? Why couldn't she sense them? It didn't make any sense, not at all. A terrible feeling of anxiety and growing terror filled the darkest corners of her mind, like a net slowly closing down on her. She moaned as loud as she dared, curled into a tight ball.

She was brought out of her trance by a soft sound. She looked up, extended her senses, and felt something coming closer. She coiled tighter into a ball, trying to stay as still as she could. As the presence grew, she recognized it as the Furry One. She relaxed for a moment, before she felt _another_ presence. She went rigid as she felt the other, larger creature coming. She gave a low growl, but stayed where she was, high up on top of a tall structure that she hoped they could not climb. Her whole body tensed when she felt the larger being begin to pursue the Furry One. She began to hiss and growl. The Furry One scampered into the large chamber she hid inside, seeking refuge in a far corner. The other being came into the room, slowly, looking around for the Furry One. She gave a low rumble as her fingers tightened, claws digging scratches into metal. The creature glanced up, and she stayed still. Against the textures of her environment, and in the dim light, she was invisible to the creature. Dangling things made strange, high-pitched jangling tones that would serve her well. She grinned to herself as the creature turned to find the Furry One, and she began to move. Quietly and with purpose.

Her anger grew when the creature found the Furry One, hiding in a corner in a small crevice. The Furry One began to hiss. _No you don't. You killed my Bonded One, you won't kill the Furry One, you monster . . ._ She silently dropped to the floor behind it, quickly standing to her full height, baring her teeth just as it turned, she could sense the change in its scent, could feel it was terrified. She lunged, her tongue stabbing into the head, missing her mark in her anger, instead inflicting a painful, glancing blow to the top of the skull. The creature screamed as her hands and claws clamped down onto its head, her tail stabbing into its upper body as her teeth snapped and bit. She heard yells from other creatures behind her. She quickly leaped backwards and up, landing on the large structure, carrying the still-twitching beast in her hands, blood raining down on its fellow animals as she carried it up and into a hole large enough for her and her prey. She felt satisfaction as she heard the screams of the other creatures behind her.

Deep in the dark, in a hidden place far and away, she found a place that had no scent of the creatures. It was wide enough for her to move, and she could easily sense if they came, and could move to fight if needed. With a snarl, she almost threw down the remains of the _thing_ she had killed.

The body was horribly mangled from her attack. One eye was gone, the top of the skull shattered and the brain exposed. She snarled angrily at the thing, hissing and spitting and drooling. She recalled how it has stalked the poor Furry One, who was only as small as she was as a hatchling! She angrily grabbed the body and threw it at a wall, hearing bones crack. She wanted to tear it to pieces. She screeched and slashed her claws and tail at the metal walls, then curled into a ball. She tried to calm her mind, searching for any sign of her Mother or Sisters. Any sign. She smelled and sensed _nothing_. She didn't sense any resin, or Cradles. Where was it all?! She moaned and shuddered, lost, angry, and, worst of all, _**alone**_. The concept was alien to her, a paradox that did not fit into her mind. There was no such thing. There should not _be_ such a thing. Even when working on her own, she should be able to feel the others, the Hive. Her mind could not wrap around the concept. She gave a high-pitched keen as she lay there for uncounted time. She finally rose, moaning sadly. She wanted the comfort of the Hive, and the others.

Almost drunkenly, she moved to the metal walls, and opened her mouth and extended her tongue, spitting out sticky strands of mucus that began to harden. She molded the shapes with her claws, tongue and tail, forming familiar, comfortable shapes that helped comfort her mind, if only a little. Maybe, if she occupied herself with something else, and didn't focus on where she was, or those nasty, murdering animals, she would feel better. She worked and worked. She finally stopped, and turned to the body of the animal. She grabbed up the body and shoved it against the wall as she spun more resin, curling the legs of the corpse up as she cocooned it. This one, though, was different. As she worked, using the body as a frame, a rounded shape began to form. She moaned sadly as the shape of a Cradle began to take shape. She worked hard, stood back at last and curled on the floor sadly. Oh, how she longed for others. Even though it was nothing more than an empty, hollow fake, seeing the familiar shape did give a tiny bit of comfort to her tortured mind and soul. She stared at the effigy of the Cradle with an eyeless stare for what felt like eternity.

She was brought out of her reverie by sounds echoing in the tunnels. She sat up and snarled. She could hear echoes of the sounds of the creatures. She got to her feet and headed for the tunnels. She wasn't about to let them violate her one sanctuary.

XXX

Inside the tunnels of metal and angles, she could hear the animals, smell their stench and she even sensed a few through the thin layers of metal. Unlike them, she didn't need eyes to know what was around her. She wasn't blind and helpless in the dark like they were, and she was not easy to ambush like they were. She gave a soft hiss as she felt another of the creatures coming into the tunnels. Were they that stupid? Were they that suicidal? _Good . . ._ Her glee was cut short when the creature released a gout of searing flame from a device it held. It took everything she had not to screech. While she was hidden away, she could feel the flames and heat. Jumbled memories, fragmented and vague, showed her large beings with similar devices that spewed flames. They were bigger than these creatures she now faced, and wore hard armor that seemed to mimic her own kind, with a long tube that attached to the chest. She snarled as it clicked. _Thralls of the Creators!_ Rage boiled up in her, her blood pumping rapidly through her so hard she thought she may burst. Now it was different. She was up against something far worse than simple murdering animals and beasts. She hissed as she slid back down the tunnels.

She felt the creature coming further in, and spew a gout of flame at a junction. She snarled low as she backed away. This creature was clever. The flame would attack, and give light at the same time, and it did this at every blind turn, to avoid an ambush. While she hated them, she did have to admit that was very smart, but she was smarter. She gave a soft hiss, just loud enough to be heard by the ears of the creature, then backed further into the tunnels. She could sense unease in the creature. That was good. She backed further away, and hid down a ladder and into a side tunnel. She cling to the top of it, and stayed still, even as the creature passed by not even an arm's length from her. The flame actually glittered on her exoskeleton briefly, but to her relief, the creature passed by without noticing her. She grinned as she headed further in and ahead of the creature.

Here and there, she left signs of her presence. Marks from her claws, mucus, even a bite she took from the metal, to show her strength. They had the desired effect, as she felt the fear of the creature growing rapidly. Good. She moved to a new location, and heard the calls of the other creatures. The creature in the tunnels began to panic, moving rapidly, right towards where she was. She stayed curled at a blind corner, waiting until the last possible instant. Instead of raising the weapon, the creature raised a light. She lunged, smashing the light with one hand and grabbing the creature with the other around the neck. Her tail whipped the weapon away, her hand clamping down over the mouth of the struggling creature as she hissed and dragged it deeper into the tunnels with her, not at all caring when she bashed it against edges of tunnels, ladders or other things in the way.

XXX

Back in her den, she slipped in as easily as the air did. The creature had gone limp, but was far from dead. Whether it had passed out from fear, been bashed by the travel, she did not know, nor care. She left it limp on the floor as she considered what to do with it. Capturing one had not really been her intent. Part of her instincts told her to cocoon it, but what point was there in that? There was no Mother, no Cradles, no Sisters. She curled up in anguish as her loneliness returned. She almost didn't notice when the creature began to awake. Her head swung around as the creature began to move, trying to escape. She lunged, stomping on it, her tail wrapping around its neck. It screamed and yelled. She grabbed one of its arms, twisting, the bones snapping loudly. The creature screamed louder. She lashed out with a hand, roughly slapping the creature to the floor. The creature scooted away until she violently stomped her foot down and broke one of its legs. It was satisfying to hear it scream in pain, even if it paled compared to hers. She grabbed it by the face, lifting it up until its ugly face was next to her own, her teeth bared.

 _That's it! Feel my pain! Have a little taste of what you and your foul masters have inflicted on us!_ She shoved the whimpering creature against the wall. _You took everything from me! You took away my Mother and my Sisters! You stole our Cradles! You chase and torment me to rub it in! And you . . . took away the one who is most precious to me._ She opened her mouth, using her tongue to smell the fear radiating from the creature as it shivered in her grasp. Her tongue brushed its face. It weakly kicked at her with its one good leg. She was almost amused as she wrapped her tail around its neck. She began to cocoon the creature. She would not kill it . . . yet. For now, she would let it writhe in torment, like her. Once it was bound, she sat back and watched as it whimpered and moaned.

Satisfied, she began to try and think what to do next. Her mind was such a jumble, forming coherent thoughts proved a challenge. She could not seem to focus on just one task, as she should be able to. Now, what to do? She had one of the creatures alive. Maybe she could use it as bait, and lure the others into an ambush? Yes, that could work, but there were four left. That depended, though, on whether they would help one of their own kind. She would not be surprised if they ate their own kind. While that would be nice to watch, it would not do much for her.

Her chain of thought was broken as she focused on her surroundings, and again had the feeling of movement. She had felt it all along, but now she truly felt it. Was she moving? Flashes of Hive Memory showed that the Creators had great ships that could travel vast distances. Was that what she was on? But Creator ships and dwellings were different than this. They never build in straight lines, or such smooth metals. They mimicked her people and how they built their Hives, in a bizarre, twisted mockery that made her angry, her previous thoughts consumed in rage, and then gone. Her previous thoughts of ambushes and bait vanished as she carried her new thoughts, twisting this way and that, almost like her tail did. _If they are thralls of the Creators, and this is one of their craft, do they have Cradles here?_ She was suddenly energized, leaping to her feet. The idea filled her with hope and glee. Any thought of danger vanished with her hope as she left in a hurry. She had seen many places where the creatures stored things, so maybe.

XXX

She stuck to shadows as she traveled through the halls. She looked in each room, looking for anything that could hide a Cradle. She tore open metal lockers and boxes, but found nothing. She found a few odd things of the creatures here and there, some that moved or made noise, but nothing of her people. She returned to where she had found the food, ate some, but it gave little comfort. It was dry, powdery, twangy and gave hardly any energy. That said, she would rather eat that than the meat of those foul creatures! Only then did she begin to wonder where they had gone to. An idea formed in her head. With their numbers reduced, she should observe them and see how they were acting. If they saw her, she could outrun them easily enough, but it also would surely scare them, and that seemed to work best against them. She grinned and stalked out, now not bothering to hide at all. She followed scents, and came to a new kind of place, stinking with their scent, but also burned. She carefully came in, and she was shocked.

One of the creatures was in pieces. But, it was different. It smelled like the strange machines and devices. It smelled of oil, and the various parts smelled like the machines. It was not flesh. The head had been torn off, and the body burned. This was strange. Strange as it came. She tilted her head and poked at the burned thing with her tail. So many questions her mind could not answer. She looked around for anything else, but only found a few packages of food. She headed out from the room, exploring more, growing more bold as she passed each empty room. There were only three of the creatures, now. That was much better, as she was sure she could kill all three at once if need be. Oh, yes. That would be lovely.

As she moved down the halls, she heard noises echoing. Loud clangs and clatters. She snorted softly, head coming up, Dorsal Tubes shaking as she extended her senses. She followed the noises, and heard noises from the creatures. She gave a very soft hiss as she came closer, and sensed them through the walls. They were doing something, but their attention was on it, not the door. She drooled in anger, and anticipation. She carefully and quietly entered the room, but one managed to sense her, somehow.

The smaller one. The female.

Her Bonded's murderer.

She hissed with fury as she stood up to her full height. The filthy creature was so pitifully small, it hardly reached above her waist. She heard a yell from the other creature, the big one, a male, who had moved to attack her when she was born. It did not use the fire-weapon, seeming to have enough sense to know it would hit the female. The male ran at her, seeming to think she would not see. Foolish animal. She did not need eyes to see, and unlike them, she could sense in almost all directions. Her tail lashed out, knocking it down and smashing the weapon. She grabbed the creature as it tried to get up, her tail and arms grabbing the beast by the back and snapping the spine as she folded it in half. It screamed, not only in pain, but defiance. She snarled as her claws tore into its shoulders and head as her tongue lashed out and smashed the skull, finally killing it. She stood and turned back to the terrified female, who was paralyzed with fear, and had not moved. Slowly and deliberately, she stalked forward, sensing the heart inside the creature beating so rapidly, it was risking failing. Pure, untold terror poured off the creature in waves. It was delicious. Her tail snaked out, coiling up the leg of the female, sharp tip heading for a sensitive vulnerability. _Feel the pain of my Bonded One . . ._

The screams and cries of her enemy were like the sweetest music to ever grace her ears. The way it writhed on her tail, impaled, how the blood flowed, how it struggled feebly, the waves of terror and agony from it. The whole thing, all of it. It was almost beautiful. Once her foe was at long last dead, she leaped up into a hole in the ceiling, and moved elsewhere. Now that her Bonded One was avenged, her thoughts were more jumbled than ever. She almost didn't know where to go. She stopped and tried to think. She was startled when loud noises she had never heard began everywhere. Loud screeches and wails, whines and many lights. She screeched herself, heading for the safety of her lair, but she had a hard time finding her way. The screeching noises were making her head hurt, and she made several wrong turns. She angrily banged her fists against walls, snarling and screeching as she made her way through the tunnels. She at long last found her lair, and screeched in anger and dismay at what she found.

Her den had been utterly destroyed, the resin still on fire. All of it was gone! She wailed as she surveyed the damage. The captured creature had been burned along with all of her den. Whether it had been out of a sense of mercy, or murder, she could not tell, but she was more inclined to think the latter with these nasty animals. The noises were getting louder, and her head hurt more than ever before. She screeched as she dashed into the tunnels, trying to get away from all the noise, all the flashing lights. She was so disoriented, she actually fell down one of the tunnels, smashing through and into a hall. The lights and sounds were louder than ever. Steam angrily hissed from the walls. She screeched and wailed, stumbling through the passages, tail lashing, claws slashing madly. She ran as fast as she could, crashing into walls. Why was it so loud? Where could she escape from it? She stumbled down one turn, and found it was not as bad down there. The loud screeches were not as loud, nor the lights as bright, and there was no steam. She rested for a few brief moments, when she sensed something.

She whirled, teeth bared. She was sure she felt something. She stalked forward. She rounded the corner, but found not one of the creatures, but the Furry One! She was surprised. It was locked inside of some strange thing, a box of metal. She growled as she leaned down, the poor Furry One yowling in distress. The poor thing. Were these creatures that cruel? She picked up the box, trying to make sure the Furry One knew she meant no harm to it, and would free it. She slid her fingers over it, trying to find a joint, a seam, anything to open it. Suddenly a pipe on the wall ruptured, bathing her in hot steam. She screeched and dropped the box, running back the way that looked safe, the screeching sounds louder than ever, heat rising. She found a nice place that was much quieter and darker. She moved for a dark place in the wall, slid into the narrow crevice. The strange place seemed calmer, reminded her of a Hive, the way there were tendril-like things in walls to hide her, to rest and curl against. She curled into the crevice and felt fatigue overtake her. In her mind, she thought back, on everything. Her loneliness, the mystery of where her Hive and Mother could be, and, most painfully, the loss of her dear Bonded One. She shuddered and moaned sadly in her sleep, as her haunted dreams tormented her.

XXX

She was hardly aware of where she was when she felt a presence. She was groggy as she came back to wakefulness, and was shocked when there was one of those creatures right in front of her! She lashed out her claws on reflex, more with intent to scare than attack. The creature recoiled in shock, screaming. She sensed this one was also a female. It ran away as fast as it could and hid on the far side of the place. She did not pursue. She felt too weak and drained. She was aware she was still moving, but it was different. How, her depressed, tired mind could not put together. Slower, perhaps? Different direction, maybe? She didn't know, and it hardly concerned her. All she could focus on was her own, depressed thoughts. She coiled tighter. She had almost drifted off to sleep when she was awoken by a blast of steam right on her. She screeched and flailed, pulling herself out of her hiding place. Lights were flashing again, but thankfully there was no loud screeching noises. She managed to get to her feet, and saw the creature, sitting not far from her. It was clad in a strange suit. Anger flashed in her as she recalled the Creators again. Memory came flooding back as she slowly stalked towards the creature, that has its back turned, and didn't seem to notice her.

Now that she recalled, her thoughts turned to the greatest enemies of her kind. If they were in motion, and these were the thralls of the Creators, then they surely must be going to their masters! Yes, and if that was the case, they likely had her people imprisoned! Even through the suit, she could sense the fear this creature, even if she could not smell it. The way it trembled. She raised her arms and bared her teeth. The creature turned saw her and screamed. Its arm lashed out and did something. Suddenly, all the air rushed out, and she was pulled across the room, and almost out the entrance. She could feel a cold void beyond. Dark, without any light, save for a few tiny speckles of very distant light. She panicked as she tried to pull herself back in.

That beast had laid a trap for her! How stupid! She fell for it like a hatchling! She snarled, teeth bared as she faced the creature, who pointed a weapon at her. A sharp barb stabbed her in the gut, sending her screeching into the void, saved only by a long line attached to the barb and weapon. The entrance slammed closed, trapping the weapon, and saving her from tumbling into the infinite void all around her. True terror and fear gripped her as she tumbled without weight, back and forth. She grabbed the line and yanked with one hand and pulled the barb out with the other. She fought with her claws to try force the door open again. The creature was staring at her through a clear opening in the door, their faces nearly touching, save for a tiny bit of this strange, clear substance. Her tail lashed out, and found a hollow. A hiding place! She pulled herself into it. She hoped it would take her in, away from this cold, endless void. Even if it did not, she hoped she could hide there, safe. Her hopes were dashed when a great fire ignited all around her! She tried to screech, but no sound came. She tried to hold on, to get past the fire, or go someplace else, but the great force pushed her back, towards the Void. She held on for a moment, claws and tail barely holding, before shreds of the metal came free, along with her, tumbling back into the endless, lightless, airless void of nothingness. She briefly saw the creature, watching her. Anger, hate, sorrow and fear all mixed as she tumbled into the endless void, the craft of the creature vanishing into the distance swiftly.

Alone. She was truly alone, now. Not a single thing around her, living or not. No land, no air, no light, no weight. Nothing. She screeched her anguish and outrage into the void as she tumbled in nothingness. She could do nothing as she felt the cold of the Void settle into her, and she began to grow sleepy. She curled into a ball, and hoped for either dreamless sleep, or death. Either would be better than to spend a horrible eternity alone. As her mind faded into dark, she gave one last, soundless scream into the cold infinity with her mind.

 _My Bonded One . . ._


End file.
